First Solar Commissions Solar Innovation Center

American cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar PV manufacturer First Solar has brought online its new research and development (R&D) center in Ohio’s Lake Township, calling it the largest facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.  

Spread over 1.3 million sq. ft. space, the facility is equipped with a high-tech pilot manufacturing line to produce full-size prototypes of thin-film and tandem solar PV modules.  

Before commissioning the center, First Solar said it was using a manufacturing line at its Perrysburg fab for late-stage product development efforts. 

“Thin films are the next technological battleground for the solar industry because they are key to commercializing tandem devices, which are anticipated to be the next disruption in photovoltaics,” said First Solar CEO Mark Widmar. 

“While the United States leads the world in thin film PV, China is racing to close the innovation gap. We expect that this crucial investment in R&D infrastructure will help maintain our nation’s strategic advantage in thin film, accelerating the cycles of innovation needed to ensure that the next disruptive, transformative solar technology will be American-made,” added Widmar.  

First Solar has named its R&D center after the company’s former board member and the architect of its CdTe semiconductor platform, Jim F. Nolan.  

Going forward, it also plans to commission a perovskite development line at the Perrysburg location in H2/2024. The Jim Nolan Center, said First Solar, adds to its existing laboratories in Santa Clara, California, and Perrysburg, Ohio, and Uppsala in Sweden. First Solar acquired Swedish perovskite company Evolar in May 2023.  

In April this year, the manufacturer joined hands with the German research institute ZSW to develop all thin-film tandem technologies on a GW scale (see Strategic Research Partnership For Thin-Film Technology).